Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-01-24
aAWLINs AND THE OLD COMMANDER
Reyiving a Scandal About the d. ad-
Remarkable Alleged Letter.

4 Remarkable Alleged Letter.
NV YORK, Jan. 24-The Sun pub
lisheI Sunday morning letter by Gen. H.
'. Boyntom, Washington correspondent of
The Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, contain
ing, among others, letter purpOrting to
have been written by Gen. John A. RawIins,
Grn. Grants chief of staff, to Gen, Grant
Before VIcksburg, Jan. 6, 1863" The let
te- is asserted to have been handed to Gen
Il. ant by the writer, and the article is
called a yindication of Gen. Rawlins, Gen.
W iiiiam F. Smith, Gen. Halleck and Murat
Ha.sted, the latter requiring vindication for
writing Secretary Chase dur NJ the war that
Gen. Grant was drunken assn Gen.
Rawlins' alleged letter is an earnest appeal
to Gen Grant to refrain from the use of in
t0xlcating liquors; calls attention to pledge
made by feu Grant to Gen. Rawlins, in
March preceding he writing Of the letter, that
he Gen. Grant, would not touch intoxi-
eating liquors, and states that the keep
ing Of that pledge has so far made
Gen. Grant the foremost general of the
world, and the continued inviolability thereof
was absolutely necessary to Grants future
success Gen. Rawlins tells Gen. Grant that
he has full control of his appetite and can
let drinking alone, and refers to certain cir
cumstances and reports that have convinced
the writer that the pledge has been broken
He says his suspicious may be wrong, but
that he would neither be fr1nd to Gen
Grant nor to the higher interests at stake,
nor faithful to the brave men whose lives
would be imperilled by the commanding gen
erals weakness, if he refrained from giving
WARNING and fIosac with a rpuuast that If
this warning is not to be needed he Gen
Rawlinsl may be relieved from his position
Of chief of staff
An Endorsement to the retained copy of the
letter, signed by Gen Rawlins, is given in
which he says his advice was needed, and all
went we'll
BoyntOn then goes on to eulogizs Gen.
Rawlins, and practically gives him the credit
Of all Gen Grants military achievements,
stating that the ''old commander never
made move without consulting Gen.
Rawlins, and always took his advice until
the end of the war A story Is also told Of
a debauch which is alleged to have taken
place before Belmont when Gen. Grant and
Gen. Cheatham tthe Confederate met in the
river on steamboats, under flag of truce. 1t
is asserted that they all got drunk, so much
so that they exchanged uniforms. and when
the boats separated Union officer was car
ried away by the Co federates and Con
federate by the Union party. The mistake
was discovered and the boats met again to
make the exchange, and then the Con-
federate boat, being fearful of the conse-
quences of Gen. Polk, who was "a rigid
disciplnarian, discovering the facts, laid up
all night at a wood yard to let the Confed-
ates get sober
Boynton's article brings up the old scandal
charging Gen. Grant with too free use of
liquors, and opens question that was sup
pose to have been long ago settled He in
Inmates that Gen Butler knows something
of the matter, and it is possible that he may
have something to say about it.